Time For A Change
by AChangeForTheBetter
Summary: Dumbledore's moving speech at the start of year feast, is the basis of a new change in Hermione Granger.


A/N: ok, well this is my first story in a while. I usually do Dramione but, I changed it up this time. I hope you enjoy! Please review.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley and Harry James Potter!" The two stunned boys turned around and embraced their very best friend.

"Hermione! There you are, where have you been?"

"Oh, calm down Ron. I was saying goodbye to my parents."

It was 10:55 am, and the three seventeen year olds were at King Cross station, waiting to board the Hogwarts Express and head off for their last year at the magical school.

"It's getting late, we better go."

As the three of them got onto the train, they met up with some of their other classmates. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, and Parvati Patil all joined them in their compartment.

After about 30 minutes of sitting and talking, the members of the compartment got quite bored.

"Anyone for a game of chess?"

"No Ron, sorry. Nobody can beat you and we all know it."

"What about exploding snap?"

"That games for first years."

There were a few minutes of silence before Hermione spoke up from her seat in the corner.

"I know what we could do." The group turned their heads towards her, waiting to see what her idea was. "There's a muggle game we could play. It's called truth or dare. The rules are very basic really. One person goes first, they pick another person, ask them 'truth or dare' and wait for their answer. If the person says truth, they must answer the question asked truthfully. If the person says dare, they must complete the dare no matter what. After that person's turn, they pick somebody and the game goes on like that."

Everybody looked around, taking in each others reactions. They all shrugged.

"Well, since it's Hermione's game she should go first," Harry pointed out.

"Okay. Hmm… Parvati, truth or dare?" After a moments deliberation, Parvati chose dare. "Well, we can start this simple. Parvati, I dare you to, sit on Dean's lap until it's your turn again." Parvati shrugged and moved to her new seat.

"Okay, okay. Uhhh, Harry! Truth or dare?" Harry also chose dare. "I dare you to, umm, I dare you to kiss Luna!"

Harry turned a bright shade of pink and leaned towards Luna. She met him half way and their lips connected for a brief second before the couple split apart and took their seats again. There was a chorus of disappointed sounds in the compartment before the game started again.

"Okay, Ron. Truth or dare?" Ron, being the chicken he is, chose truth. "Out of everyone in this compartment, who would you rather kiss?"

Ron's shade of pink blew Harry's out of the water. He turned and looked at all the girls in the compartment before turning back to Harry and saying quietly, "Lavender."

There were only two quiet people in the compartment after that announcement. One was Ron of course, and the other Hermione. For about a year now, Hermione had been harvesting a secret love for Ron. Nobody knew about it, especially not the fellow himself. But Harry wasn't so blind. He could see the way Hermione felt about Ron.

Harry turned to Hermione, gave her a small shove and a smile and Hermione immediately brightened up. If only for appearances sake.

After a while, the compartment calmed down. They were about five minutes away from Hogwarts and needed to get changed. The boys gave the girls the compartment first and then the girls left so the boys could change.

Sooner than later, the train arrived at its destination.

"Welcome back to our older students, and welcome for the first time to our new first years."

The group tuned out what Dumbledore was saying as they had heard it many times before. However, they started listening again when they heard him say something that hadn't been in last years speech, or any other years for that matter.

"Our whole world opens and closes everyday. It opens to the light, and closes to the dark. To the happiness of old memories, and the sadness of knowing they're gone forever," Harry turned his head down, clearly thinking of Sirius. "What I'm trying to say, is 'Carpe Diem'. That is a latin phrase used quite often. Translated, it means 'Seize the day'. Try to live your life to the fullest while you can, because you won't always be able to. If there are things you want to tell someone, but are holding back for silly reasons, then forget those silly reasons and tell them. There is no use hiding something if hiding it means not letting it live to its full potential. That is all. Enjoy the feast!"

All around the Great Hall, there were eyes bulging and mouths hanging open. Hermione Granger, however, had the most visible reaction to this powerful speech. One single tear had slid down her cheek, sitting for all to see before she quickly wiped it away.

'Dumbledore has a funny way of knowing everything exactly how it is, at exactly the right time,' she thought before quickly grabbing some food and joining her friends.


End file.
